Balanza Kretz Novel Eco 2

broke my heart eight years ago. Now she's my boss. Emma Parker has spent years building walls around her heart, brick by painful brick. At 26, she's a rising star at one of San Francisco's most prestigious law firms, and she's worked damn hard to get here, partially to prove she's more than the naive college freshman who fell for her mentor and got destroyed. Then she walks back into Emma's life. Alexandra Richardson. Successful, gorgeous, and apparently Emma's new senior partner. The woman who taught Emma about law, about passion, and about heartbreak—in that order. Eight years ago, Alex chose her career over their secret relationship and disappeared without looking back. Now she claims she never stopped thinking about Emma. Now she says leaving was the biggest mistake of her life. Emma wants to hate her. She really does. But when they're forced to work together on a career-defining case, those old feelings resurface with a vengeance. Late nights in the office. Stolen glances. Accidental touches that linger too long. The chemistry that once consumed them is still there, burning hotter than ever.

Terrance Burgess slapped me in front of the entire company, all because I accidentally knocked over his assistant's vase. My five-year-old son, Claude Burgess, stood off to the side, clapping like it was something worth cheering for. Afterward, the assistant walked up to me while holding the bouquet the father and son had given her, showing it off right in my face. "So what if you're the wife? The one who isn't loved is the real outsider." I looked at her calmly. "Then you'd better watch yourself. If he can have you on the side, he can just as easily find someone else after you." I used to think I had a happy, complete family. Until Terrance's assistant came along and made me realize it had all been in my head. The love from that father and son had already moved on to someone else. That was the moment something in me went completely still. I called a number I hadn't contacted in years. "Dad, I want to come home and take over the family business."

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate." I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief. Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him. In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans. However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance. He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was. The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control. Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it. I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me. However, fate gave me another chance. In this life, I would not make the same mistake. When the High King once again asked me to choose a partner for the marriage alliance, I chose Damon—the one no one ever noticed—without even blinking. I thought I was finally free of the past. However, the moment the engagement was announced… Alpha Iris lost his mind.

Ashley was bound by tradition after the despicable Prince; Prince Regan, rejected her. By tradition, she can't be claimed again, not even by her real mate who was manipulated to reject her. In the bid to prove herself, Ashley got entangled with rebels and politics. She joined the Striker Sect; a Sect that would stop at nothing until they usurped King Muna, the tyrant king, and Prince Regan's uncle. Ashley rose to fame and became the leader of the sect, setting her directly against the Prince who humiliated and destroyed her; Prince Regan. Prince Regan realized that he needed Ashley to reach his goals. Will Ashley agree to help him or work against him?

Ayda has been living alone as a rogue since she lost her son during his delivery. She was immediately rejected by her mate, the Alpha, who blamed her for the loss of their son and left her to die. Dimitri is an Alpha in the middle of a pack war. His mate died in childbirth, leaving him a single father, alone, heart-broken, and with an infant son to care for. Now, nine years later, he refuses to allow his son, his only family, to be murdered by an attacking pack. When Dimitri hides his son, Cathal, during an attack, the opposing pack finds him and begins to surround the young Alpha, ready to kill him. Ayda sees what’s happening and jumps in, unwilling to stand by while a child is murdered in front of her. She puts herself between the pup and attacking pack, nearly dying while protecting the young pup. When he returns, Dimitri finds the woman barely alive after protecting his son. Cathal tells him how the woman saved him, and he quickly orders her and Cathal to be taken to the pack hospital while he goes after the pack who attacked his son. The pack members, not knowing what Ayda did, scoff at her, thinking that she is a rogue that their Alpha took pity on. She leaves, sneaking away during the battle to go back to her home in the woods. When Dimitri returns and finds her gone, he is furious and now must hunt for the woman who not only saved his son but has rekindled feelings that he hasn’t had since his mate died. Can these two people, brought together by fate, work through the grief of their loss to find a way to happiness, a second chance for both of them.

"You're too weak to be my Luna," Alpha Ryker spat, choosing my stepsister over me—his fated mate. I thought losing my mate was the worst pain imaginable. I was wrong. The worst pain came when I discovered I was pregnant with his child the same day he banished me. The worst betrayal came when my stepsister revealed she'd been poisoning me for years, keeping my true power dormant. Now I'm back, no longer the weak omega they discarded. I'm the mysterious healer who saved the Savage Alpha's life—the ruthless Alpha King who's claimed me as his. They want me gone, but they don't know my secret: I'm carrying twins with a rare gift that could change everything. My ex-mate wants me back. My new mate wants revenge. And me? I just want to survive long enough to discover why everyone seems terrified of what I'm becoming. Because sometimes the weakest wolf holds the strongest bite.

Willow was a strong female wolf with issues. She has recently found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her with her evil halfsister. He tried to explain, but Willow couldn't and wouldn't hear it. Her father ended up cheating on her mother with his mate, her now stepmother, and forced her mother to leave the pack never to return. Willow was giving up. She was giving up on finding her true mate, and she was giving up having a happy, healthy father and daughter relationship because her dad, who was the alpha of her wolf pack, always took her halfsisters side. Then, one day, fate changed. The lycan pack came to visit, and the Lycan beta informed her father that the Lycan king Adien was hosting a celebration. He was looking for a Luna and demanded that a few females from each pack attend. Willow was forced to pack her things and head to the ruling Lycan pack. A pack ruled by the dangerous, deadly, and cruel Lycan Alpha. Willow has heard whispers about the Lycan king, and all were bad. His mate died years ago, and when he was at his weakest point, some members of the ruling family tried to kill him. Those two events have left the Lycan King cold and ruthless.

My heart ceased to beat in my chest. "A--alpha Kane!" I squeaked, shock plastered all over my face. The next thing I felt was my face being knocked to the side and the loud sound of a slap ringing out through the air.  Aria Logan can never catch a break in the pack, she has lived all her life. Being an orphan results in her being demoted to an omega in the pack. Despite her low status, she can't help but have feelings for the new young Alpha of their pack. However, she got her hope shattered by being rejected and banished from her pack. Not having a place to head either, she unintentionally crossed the border of a powerful pack, Moonlight Pack, where she was captured and taken to Lucas. To their surprise, they felt a strange, strong pull toward each other. With Aria struggling to start trusting again, will she accept Lucas to get a chance to be loved?

Geun Jungwon is the most famous successful and well-settled businessman. Geun Eun-Hee is also known as a famous surgeon. After completing their university they got married and continued their careers. They were happy in their little world but one-day Eun-Hee met Seon Soon-Ja who was attempting suicide. Eun-Hee saved her and brought her into their house. Jungwon wasn't happy with Eun-Hee's decision as he felt something weird toward Seon Soon-Ja but his love for his wife more than anything. Jungwon respected Eun-Hee's decision and agreed to let Soon-Ja live in their house, and then something changed all of their lives, something which they never imagined.

"When two not so different kind of broken unite nothing can be predicted." For an outsider, Princess Lana Miller seemed to be picture perfect as the eldest daughter of the Pack Alpha, blessed with beauty and wit. However, it's far from the truth. The omega is a prisoner in her own home, mistreated by her adopted parents and hated by her siblings. But she's hopeful, waiting for her debutant to escape her hell. Axel Russo is the most sought after Alpha in the country after losing his mate unexpectedly. Despite being the most eligible and handsome mate, he has no interest in finding someone. Fate has other plans as Lana Miller is chosen as his omega. The Alpha intends on rejecting her, but there's something about her he cannot figure out. There are worse places for an omega to end up than stuck in a loveless marriage to a wealthy Alpha, Lana thinks while accepting Alpha Axel. But everything comes with a price. Soon the omega will have to figure out what she's willing to sacrifice-the freedom she's always wanted, or a love she's never even dreamed of. ***